New Bedford woman charged with stealing from longtime Fairhaven employer

Curt Brown @CurtBrown_SCT

Wednesday

Feb 26, 2020 at 6:20 PMFeb 27, 2020 at 3:30 PM

FAIRHAVEN — The first inkling businesswoman Gail Isaksen had that something was amiss with her companies' finances was in December 2017 when she found $180 inside the desk drawer of a longtime employee, court records say.

She knew there was no reason for there to be cash inside the desk drawer of Tove Perry, the manager of Isaksen's Euro Phoenix store in Fairhaven. The following day Isaksen looked at the deposit slip and saw that only $40 of the $180 had been deposited into the bank by Perry, court records say.

Isaksen questioned her longtime employee about the discrepancy; Perry had no explanation, but the next day she told Isaksen she found $140 in some paperwork and deposited it in the bank, according to court records.

In April 2018, Isaksen found more discrepancies and left the previous two months of sales receipts, deposits and journals on Perry's desk. Perry cleared her desk of the paperwork and never said a word to her boss. When Isaksen asked her about the discrepancies, Perry answered, "I didn't steal any money," court records say.

Isaksen then fired Perry, who never questioned her firing even though she and her boss were friends for many years. Since the termination, no discrepancies have been found, according to court records.

Fast forward to the present and Perry stands accused of stealing $6,242 from bank deposits, according to documents in New Bedford District Court.

Perry, who worked for Isaksen for 28 years, was arraigned Feb. 12 on a charge of larceny by a single scheme, court records say. Perry, 63, of 661 County St., New Bedford, was released on personal recognizance and given a bail revocation warning by Judge Katie Rayburn. She will next appear in court on March 16 for a pre-trial hearing.

Perry was in charge of the Euro Phoenix store, a shop that sells gifts, kitchenware, candy, jewelry, Norwegian sweaters and is located at 24 Center St., Fairhaven. It is one of two stores owned by Isaksen, president of the Euro Ship Store and the complainant in the criminal case, according to court documents. The other store is Euro Ship located at 2 Ferry St., Fairhaven, which sells fishermen supplies, clothing and apparel.

Isaksen, in a phone interview, acknowledged the allegations represent a breach of trust, but said these types of things happen to other people as well. She declined further comment, saying it is "an ongoing case."

After firing Perry, Isaksen hired a private investigator in May 2018 and she, her bookkeeper and the investigator met with Fairhaven Detective Jerald Bettencourt III and Detective Sgt. Matthew Botelho on Oct. 22, 2018, after the investigator's report was finished, court records say.

They determined that the larcencies occurred when the bank deposits were made at Rockland Trust in Fairhaven and the only two individuals who deposited the money were Isaksen and Perry, court records say. The cash from Euro Ship Store and the Euro Phoenix store were deposited together on a single deposit slip.

"It was determined that on the days Tove Perry would make the bank deposit, the deposit records and what was deposited into the bank was different. The days Mrs. Perry was not working (vacation, sick, day off) or the days Mrs. Isaksen did the deposits, the deposits would be correct," Bettencourt's report says.

Perry was interviewed by Fairhaven police on Nov. 2, 2018, and she denied stealing any money from Isaksen, court records say. She also said she had maxed out credit cards and "will never be able to pay them off."

Police asked Perry why she didn't question Isaksen when she was fired, court records say. "Mrs. Perry stated she was going to call Mrs. Isaksen but never got around to it," court records say.

Police interviewed Perry a second time on March 25, 2019, and showed her the discrepancies between sales receipts and the bank deposit slips for the two stores on Dec. 11, 2017, and Dec. 12, 2017, court records say. Several times, she answered, "I don't know," when she was asked about them. She also had "no reason" why money would be "short constantly" when she made the deposits.

She was told by police she could be criminally charged and asked if she had anything to say and she said, "no," court records say.

Fairhaven police concentrated on the month of December 2017 as part of their investigation and say Perry stole the following amounts on the following dates: $160 on or about Dec. 1; $160 on or about Dec. 3; $60 on or about Dec. 4; $330 on or about Dec. 5; $350 on or about Dec. 7; $90 on or about Dec. 8; $300 on or about Dec. 10; $267 on or about Dec. 11; $420 on or about Dec. 12; $680 on or about Dec. 15; $429 on or about Dec. 16; $200 on or about Dec. 17; $260 on or about Dec. 18; $431 on or about Dec. 19; $540 on or about Dec. 21; $660 on or about Dec. 22; $300 on or about Dec. 23; $200 on or about Dec. 24; $155 on or about Dec. 26; $90 on or about Dec. 28; $60 on or about Dec. 29; $100 on or about Dec. 30.

"Perry stole a total of $6,242 from the company during December 2017," court records say. "The business records for January 2016-November 2017 reveal a similar pattern of cash thefts from bank deposits by Perry."

Follow Curt Brown on Twitter @CurtBrown_SCT

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.